Update: White House Mulls Renter Protections as NAA Pushes for Responsible Policies

As the White House seeks to advance the President’s housing agenda, NAA is continuing efforts to educate the administration on the nuances of rental housing operations and champion sustainable housing affordability solutions.

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Update (1/23/2023):

The National Apartment Association (NAA) remains engaged in ongoing dialogues with the White House surrounding their pursuit of “resident-centered property management practices.” Though a formal announcement is expected in the coming weeks, recent media reporting speculates the President’s actions could range from increased promotion of existing affordability programs to renter advocate wish list items like federal rent caps. It is critical to remember that media reporting on their plans remains speculative, however NAA is engaged in an active dialogue with the Administration – both as an association and part of a broader real estate coalition – and stands ready to proactively fight against adverse policies if needed.  

Further, NAA has engaged with White House officials on potential administrative action for months. NAA continues to voice strong opposition to rent control measures of any kind and as we outlined in our coalition letter, rental markets vary widely across the country and local solutions remain the most appropriate avenue to address concerns and produce solutions tailored to those individual markets. Much like our concerns about the CARES Act notice to vacate requirement, there could be practical implementation challenges and unintended consequences that would result from expanding federal landlord and tenant requirements for housing providers in the private market.

Update (12/28/2022):

NAA continues its work to educate the White House and agency officials about the industry's resident-centered property management practices. As the Administration considers the best paths forward to advance President Biden's housing agenda, NAA and its coalition partners urge them to reconsider implementing added federal landlord and tenant requirements. Instead, we would like to work with federal policymakers on sustainable efforts to address the nation’s housing affordability challenges and keep renters stably housed, like the Housing Supply Action Plan.

In the coalition's recent letter to the administration, we write:

"As representatives of the housing industry, we absolutely appreciate the importance of housing choice and access to quality, affordable housing, as we work to provide decent housing for residents, who are our customers.  However, inherent in ensuring this stability for our nation’s renters, is maintaining the current and future viability of the broader rental housing industry. As such, the attached letter urges the Administration refrain from recommending new or expanded federal obligations for private rental housing providers and instead focus on leveraging federal resources to bolster new housing supply, improve access to existing housing benefits for those renters in need and provide additional funding for federal housing support."

Ready for a deeper dive? Read the coalition's letter to the White House.

White House Convenes Follow-Up Meeting (11/22/2022):

On November 22, 2022, the White House convened another industry stakeholder meeting as a follow-up to the conversation around resident-centered property management practices. National Apartment Association (NAA) Chairman Don Brunner and NAA President and CEO Bob Pinnegar attended the meeting to share the voice of the rental housing industry, with Greg Brown, NAA’s SVP of Government Affairs, and Nicole Upano, NAA’s AVP of Housing Policy & Regulatory Affairs, also in attendance.

White House staff reiterated their commitment to President Biden’s housing agenda which remains focused on advancing its Housing Supply Action Plan, expanding federal renter protections and exploring opportunities to partner with industry to amplify resident-centered best practices. 

NAA continues to stand up for the rental housing industry, urging the Administration to focus the federal government’s efforts on expanding the supply of quality affordable housing and reducing barriers to multifamily housing development through incentive-based approaches. We also continue to urge support for more investment in and improvements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program to expand housing choices for low- and moderate-income renters in need. Expanded federal landlord and tenant protections are not the right policy solution.

Ready for a deeper dive? Learn more about the White House’s first stakeholder meeting earlier this fall and catch up on the latest in housing politics with NAA’s Apartment Advocate newsletter.